Contact for underground electric railways



(No Model.)

2 SheetsSheet 1.

G B COLEMAN & J W DUGGAN TRAVELING CONTACT FOR UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. No. 602,678.

(No Model 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. BIOOLEMAN & J. W. DUGGAN,

TRAVELING CONTACT FOR UNDERGROUND ELEGTRIG'RAILWAYS.

I No. 602,678. Patented Apr. 19, 1898.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GRIFFIN B. COLEMAN AND JOSEPH W. DUGGAN, OF lVASI-IINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

TRAVELlNG CONTACT FOR UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,678, dated April 19, 1898. Application filed November 2, 1897. Serial No. 657,165. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GRIFFIN B. COLE AN and JOSEPH W.DU GGAN, citizens of theUnited States, residing at TVashington, District of Columbia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traveling Contacts for Underground Electric Railways; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to traveling contacts or current-collectors for underground electricrailway systems.

The primary feature of the present invention is to provide a traveling contact or ourrent-collector with a double set of leads from the main feed-wire, one of said sets being adapted for use as emergency or supplemental lead-wires in case the other set becomes inoperative by burning out or otherwise. Incidental to this main characteristic feature the invention comprises novel features of construction in the details of the contact or plow, which will be described fully hereinafter, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of .our improved plow or traveling contact. Fig.2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan View thereof. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4 a of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of one of the contact-shoes of the plow. Fig. (5 is a sectional end elevation of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 1.

The frame of the traveling contact or plow comprises vertical bars 1 and transverse bars 2 and 3. Transverse strips or plates 4 and 5, of insulating fiber, connect the lower ends of the vertical bars 1, and on the outer sides of these plates of fiber are secured the yielding contact-shoes 6 and 7 of the'device. Each oi these shoes is recessed at its ends to receive screws 8 for securing the shoes to insulating fiber blocks 9, which are secured by screws 10 to springs 11. The shoes are supported vby oppositely-disposed arms 12 and 13, the

ends of which are pivoted, respectively, to the fiber blocks 9, carrying the shoes, and to lugs or blocks 14, projecting from the fiber strips 4 and 5. I

The shoes 6 and 7 are each formed with a semicircular recess 15 on their inner faces to permit the lower ends of the main leads 17 and 18 to pass therethrough to horizontal passages 19, communicating with the central recess 15, and thence to their binding-posts 20 on the outer sides of the shoes. The supplemental lead-wires 21 and 22 extend down between the fiber plates 4 and 5, and their lower ends pass out through holes 23, formed in the fiber plates, and are secured to the bindingposts 24 on the under side of the shoes. Both sets of lead-wires extend upwardly throughsuitable insulating-tubes 25 and are provided at their upper ends with couplings 26 for attachment to the motor or regulator of the car. The lead-wires are supported and secured by U-shaped clamps 27, which embrace the insulating-tubes 25 and are bolted to the vertical bars 1 of the frame, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4:.

It will of course be understood by those skilled in the art to which our invention relates that the shoes 6 and 7 contact with live conductors (not shown) arranged within a conduit between the rails of the track and convey current from said conductors through the lead-wires to the motor of the car.

- It will be obvious that we contemplate the use of only one set or pair of lead-wires at the same time. Preferably we employ the wires 17 and 18 as what we term the main leads, the wires 20 and 21 being carried as emergencyleads. In the event of the burning out of the main leads 17 and 18 the wires 20 and 21 may be readily coupled to the motor binding-posts and the operation of the motor may be thus renewed.

A feature of the special arrangement of 5 IOO by the fiber strips the insulation on the wires becomes affected by dampness and having little exposure to dry air soon deteriorates, resulting in short-circuiting, &c. By our present arrangement the covered wires 17 and 18, although exposed to water and dampness in low positions of the road, have an opportunity to dry out as the car passes over higher and drier parts of the road. The same thing is true, to an extent, of the wires 20 and 21, as they extend outside of the fiber plates for portions of their length.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, the insulating-tubes are thickened and slightly flattened at the points 28, which are just within the camps 27. These clamps are liable by the lateral swaying 0f the plow to rub against the edges of the slot-rails of the track, and the purpose, therefore, of the reinforcement of the insulation at the points 28 is to afford additional protection for the wires at these points.

We claim 1. The combination with a traveling contact or current-collector for underground electrio-railway systems, of two pairs of leadwires provided with independent couplings and independently connected to the contactshoes of the device.

2. The combination with a traveling contact or current-collector of contact-shoes, recesses for the passage of the lead-wires, two pairs of lead-wires having independent connections with the shoes, and adapted to be used interchangeably.

3. The combination with the frame of the traveling contact, of double sets of leadwires, insulating-tubes, clamped to the sides of the frame, said sets of wires being independently connected with the shoes and provided with means whereby the sets of leadwires may be connected to the car-motor interchangeably.

4. The combination with the frame and double sets of lead-wires, of the shoes recessed centrally and slotted longitudinally for the attachment of the lead-wires.

5. The combination with the frame and contact-shoes, of the fiber plates, and two pairs of lead-wires, one pair arranged outside of the fiber-plates, and the other pair extending down between the plates and extending through openings in said plates for attachment to the shoes.

6. The combination with the frame, of the clamps secured thereto, and lead-wires provided with insulating-tubes which latter are thickened and flattened within said clamps.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

GRIFFIN B. COLEMAN. JOSEPH \V. DUGGAN.

lVitnesses:

ALBERT PoPKINs, H. JOSEPH DOYLE. 

